Medusa
A supervillainess in Champions Online. In Champions Online Medusa has made herself at home in Millennium City. She's taken the name Madeline Bell, and under this alias she's managed to install herself among the City's leadership, as the City Administrator. At the same time she's been working out of an office in the Mind, Inc. building, using her psionic abilities to control at least one member of the Millennium City Police Department in order to manipulate the city's heroes into completing tasks in the best interests of PSI. :For the article on this character's appearance in Millennium City, see: Medusa (Medusa's Office) Missions Mission Objective : Perks Perk Objective Profile Madeline Poe (nee Bruner) started out as an accountant. It wasn’t precisely any girl’s dream, but she liked money, and she liked information, and she liked being able to manipulate both to her advantage. Lucky for her, the brilliant scientist, Sebastian Poe, needed an accountant and came to her. It didn’t take long for Madeline to figure out what Sebastian was up to. He was developing a serum to increase psionic powers, and had managed to increase his own abilities. Madeline was fascinated with the entire idea and set herself to seduce the married scientist. It wasn’t hard. Madeline had always had a certain raw sexuality to her. While not the most beautiful woman in the world, she had a very strong appeal for a certain type of man. Fortunately, that type tended to be powerful but also malleable. She convinced Sebastian to give her the serum. She also let slip certain information so that Sebastian’s wife would find out not only about the affair, but that Sebastian had been testing out the serum on his infant son. The wife packed up the kid and immediately left Sebastian, as Madeline planned. Of course, Madeline kept Sebastian distracted enough that he didn’t really care when his wife and son disappeared. Instead, he was beginning what would eventually become a criminal empire. All, of course, under Madeline’s encouragement. Madeline and Sebastian married, making her half owner in all his endeavors. Together, they used PSI to take over the Scarlatti mob organization as well as a key VIPER nest in Baltimore. Madeline began calling herself Medusa around that time, since her psionic ability was to paralyze an opponent. It was so potent, the effect wouldn’t wear off until a day later, which, of course, gave her as much time as she needed to do whatever she wanted. Pretty soon it became clear that what she really wanted was more power. Sebastian wasn’t moving quickly enough for her, and was both far too cautious and far too stubborn. However, his protégée, Psimon, didn’t have those particular flaws. In addition, Psimon was an aggressive younger man who appealed to Medusa’s sensual side. It wasn’t long before the two of them began a tumultuous affair. Psimon fell head over heels for Medusa, while she in turn fell for him. However, she never let her affection for him overshadow her dreams of taking over PSI. Medusa found that it was much easier for her to manipulate the younger Psimon than it had ever been to manipulate Sebastian Poe. She convinced him to help her take over. Together, they dropped enough hints and clues to lead the Justice Squadron to Sebastian Poe and several of his more loyal followers within PSI. Thanks to their subterfuge, the Justice Squadron – and everyone else – believed that PSI had been completely eradicated. To further their plans, Medusa convinced Psimon to move the organization to the outskirts of Millennium City, where they created a shell corporation known as the self help phenomenon, Mind, Inc. It was her idea to use the Mind, Inc. counselors to scan clients for potential psionic ability as well as gathering whatever information possible. About Medusa These days Medusa is turning her eye towards politics as well as standard criminal activity. She’s all about power, and she’s good at using people to get more. She uses her sexuality and her psionic power quite freely, so long as she’s sure it will help her achieve her goals. In spite of all that, she really does love Psimon and is incredibly possessive of him. She knows that Mind Slayer is besotted with him, but she’s confident she can easily take out the younger woman if need be. Powers and Abilities After injecting herself with the serum created by Sebastian Poe to increase psionic abilities, she became telepathic, with the ability to use psychic bolts, project herself via thought, read her opponent's mind to counter their attack, etc. Her special ability to paralyse an opponent is so powerful, it can last over a day. Medusa, without her psychic abilities, is also able to seduce men quite easily. Champions RPG A much older looking Madeline Poe was Mother Medusa. She was introduced in the Mind Games organization book in 1989. Madeline Poe grew up in an alcoholic home with an abusive father. Her mother always protected and defended her father, and Madeline grew to resent them both. When a young airman with the United States Air Force offered to marry her during her senior year in high school, she dropped out and went with him to his station in the Pacific. Her new husband drank heavily while off duty and treated Madeline more like a possession than a spouse. Eventually, Madeline couldn’t stand it anymore and she attempted suicide. The doctors managed to save Madeline, but her husband wouldn’t forgive her. In his eyes, Madeline had embarrassed and frightened him, and he wanted a divorce. So, just thirteen months after their wedding, Madeline returned to the states alone. Madeline managed to get a job a job as a clerk in a pharmaceuticals distribution center, and began to straighten out her life. She started seeing a psychologist, and he help her to work through her past and see herself as a strong, confident person. Madeline began to take better care of herself physically, and stood up for her rights in her few relationships. Eventually, she met Dr. Sebastian Poe, one of the pharmaceutical center’s clients. The two entered into a whirlwind romance and were soon married. At first, Madeline enjoyed the freedom she felt in their relationship, and was thrilled with the material wealth she had entered into. She had gone from a one-bedroom apartment to a grand house, from old sweaters to furs and diamonds, from a beat-up Chevy to a new Cadillac - and Madeline became quite attached to this rich lifestyle. In time, Madeline and Dr. Poe had a son, Simon Poe (Psymon), and Madeline was very happy. In this background, there was no mention of her mental capabilities which she apparently had according to her Villain stats. External Links Medusa - Champions Online Official Profile. Category:Villains Category:PSI